This is Denmark-based Jakob Skøtt's full-length debut under his Syntaks alias. Skøtt has been a lifelong collaborator with friend Jonas Munk more recently on his Manual project, as well as their first release on Morr Music as members of the band Limp. A couple of years later the duo released under their own names for the album Golden Sun on Darla. Jakob is also part of the four-piece Causa Sui with a release on Germany's Nasoni. Where the previous collaborations with Manual have featured soporific hip-hop beats and melting soundscapes, Awakes sees Syntaks explore more varied territories. The ten track album clocks in just under 50 minutes and journeys into an expertly-crafted concoction of seductive dub, guitar pop, leftfield beats and Slowdive-esque washes of guitar with the slightest hint of Cocteau Twins at their best. Awakes is a broad-brush stroke of accomplished, grandiose electronics that transports to wonderful netherworlds -- a soundtrack to navigating deserts alone, hallucinating glittering digital oasis after digital oasis.